Microsoft Office Online
Sign in to My Office Online (What's this?) | Sign in

 
 
Microsoft Office Excel
Search
Search
 
Check for updates: (c) Microsoft
Office downloads
 
 
 
Warning: You are viewing this page with an unsupported Web browser. This Web site works best with Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0 or later, Firefox 1.5, or Netscape Navigator 8.0 or later. Learn more about supported browsers.

Email this linkEmail this link Printer-Friendly VersionPrinter-Friendly Version Bookmark and ShareShare
Protect controls and linked cells on a worksheet
 

You may want to add protection to Form controls and ActiveX controls to prevent users from moving, changing, or deleting controls.

  1. If one or more controls is an ActiveX control:
    1. Make sure that the Developer tab is available.

      ShowDisplay the Developer tab

      1. Click the Microsoft Office Button Button image, and then click Excel Options.
      2. In the Popular category, under Top options for working with Excel, select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box, and then click OK.

         Note   The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface.

    2. Make sure that you are in design mode. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, turn on Design Mode Button image.
  2. Select the control that you want to protect.

    For more information, see Select or deselect controls on a worksheet.

  3. To prevent a user from moving, sizing, or deleting a control, right-click the selection, and then click Format Control.
  4. On the Protection tab, select the Locked check box.
  5. If the control has a linked cell, unlock the cell so that the control can write to it, and then hide the cell so that a user cannot cause unexpected problems by modifying the current value. To unlock the cell:
    1. On the Home tab, in the Cells group, click Format, and then click Format Control.

      Excel Ribbon Image

    2. On the Protection tab, clear the Locked check box, and then click OK.

    Then, hide the column or row that contains the linked cell, or move the contents of the linked cell to a separate worksheet, and then hide that worksheet.

    For more information, see Hide or display rows and columns and Hide or display worksheets or workbooks.

  6. To prevent users from changing the protections on the cells and controls that you have set, protect both the worksheet and the workbook.

    For more information, see Protect worksheet or workbook elements.